Having a prolonged PR interval can signal an underlying health issue. It’s important to understand what this means and how it might be treated.
The PR interval is the time it takes for the electrical impulse to travel from the top of your heart to the bottom. This is part of an electrocardiogram ECG test, which measures electrical activity in your heart.
A normal PR interval should last between 120 and 200 milliseconds ms. If it’s longer than 200 ms, that’s considered a prolonged PR interval. It may indicate an underlying health condition such as first-degree atrioventricular AV block or bundle branch block, both of which involve problems with electrical conduction in your heart.
If you have a prolonged PR interval on an ECG test, your doctor will likely order more tests to determine if there is something more serious going on with your heart. These may include imaging tests like echocardiograms or CT scans as well as stress tests that measure how well your heart works when you are active or under stress.
In some cases, treatment for a prolonged PR interval may not be necessary if there are no other symptoms present or if the condition isn’t causing any serious problems with how well your heart works overall.
